Tuesday 4 July 2000 20.21 EDT
First published on Tuesday 4 July 2000 20.21 EDT

The music of Santana blasts out over loudspeakers as 2,000 of America's Latino activists settle down behind white tablecloths in the ballroom on this warm Californian evening.

Tonight the second most powerful man in the land is going to ask them to dance, as it were, and how they respond will be seen as signalling which way the country's fastest growing ethnic minority will vote in this November's presidential election.

Traditionally the Latino vote has gone to the Democrats, but Al Gore, trailing George W Bush in most polls, knows he can take nothing for granted. Most recent national surveys have shown him behind Mr Bush.

Nevertheless, his team are heartened by the latest Newsweek poll, which shows him ahead of Bush by 46% to 45%, although dipping below his Republican rival if the Green party's Ralph Nader and his 6% is included in the equation.

The poll encapsulates Mr Gore's dilemma: he must keep the traditional Democrat vote from the unions, ethnic minorities and environmentalists while reassuring the floaters that he is committed to a healthy economy.

The style of the two candidates as the campaign enters its pre-convention stage is also a sign of how the race is running. While Mr Bush banters with crowds and reporters, Mr Gore earnestly delivers policy measures on everything from education and immigration to health care and military training.

In past elections the courted voter was the "soccer mom", but this year it is the Latino family. Although the Latino vote accounts for only 6% nationally, in such crucial states as California, Texas and New York it is significantly higher.

Mr Bush has been making a big effort with Spanish language commercials and much reference to his Latino sister-in-law, and polls of Latinos show the gap between the two men narrowing. He has also been pushed by Mr Gore into denying that he is "anti-immigration" and "anti-education", accusations which the Gore team hope will bring the newly powerful immigrant communities towards the Democrats.

So this week both men will be addressing the national council of La Raza in San Diego, since 1968 the main Latino civil-rights organisation in the US, and one whose approval a candidate must win if he is to activate the large but slumbering Latino vote.

Looking very Anglo in his suit, white shirt and red tie, Mr Gore does his best to let the audience know that there is a little Latin in his soul. His speech is punctuated with enough " felicidades " and " si, se puedes " and " de nadas " to let them know that both his heart and his phrase book are in the right place. And he knows which buttons to press for standing ovations.

"All of America can learn from the Latino community about the importance of family," he tells them. Praising the family to a Latino audience is like telling the British voter that dogs are nice little fellows but Mr Gore is anxious to reassure his constituency before he takes questions from the crowd.

"I honour all the parents who read to their children at night," he says. "My wife Tipper and I have done that to each of our four children."

He is a grandfather, he explains, who has just celebrated his 30th wedding anniversary. How many here have celebrated 30 years of marriage? Since a long marriage in Cali fornia is around 18 months, this is not too fertile territory and the vice-president seems much more at ease when he is dealing with the weightier matters of health policy, the economy and civil rights.

"We have the lowest Latino unemployment rate in the history of the United States," he says. "This is a time of pride and plenty." This week he has been outlining key reforms in medical insurance, pledging that by the end of his first term he would make sure that every child had medical insurance; currently one in four Latino children do not.

He attacks the pharmaceutical companies for keeping their prices high and the insurance companies for their reluctance to pay up, subliminally blaming them for the poor health of Latino children.

Then come the questions from the floor. There are a few lobbed pelotas . On funding for the arts? "The arts are like air and water, we need them to lead good healthy lives." Affirmative action? "I'm strongly in favour of it and Governor Bush is opposed to it."

Then some younger Latinos ask some rather tougher questions. What about the 541 would-be migrants who have died crossing the border in the five years since the US started its get-tough Operation Gatekeeper policy?

"Every country has a duty to protect its border but it must be done with compassion, with respect for human dignity . . . If you elect me president, I will change that."

A young man asks about the bombing tests on the Puerto Rican island of Vieques. "I believe the bombing should stop as soon as possible."

How many Latino faces would there be in a Gore cabinet, and when would there be the first Latino supreme court judge? "My cabinet will look like America, it will embody the diversity of America."

The reception is friendly and enthusiastic if not ecstatic. Yes, seems to be the answer, they would like to dance but they are still not entirely certain whether Mr Gore is going to stand on their toes.

Gilberto Moreno, from Houston, says, as Mr Gore disappears in a sea of shaken hands and flashing cameras: "I think he did extremely well. I don't believe Bush will get the same kind of reception."

Edna Esquer, 28, an activist in the National Association of Hispanic Nurses, is also impressed. "He has improved ac cess to health care and he's very proactive. Yes, I think he will be able to persuade young Latinos to vote for him."

Outside, a handful of anti-abortion protesters carry placards of blown-up foetuses and a sign saying "Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire", while some Bush supporters discreetly hand out a leaflet mocking Mr Gore for being a "suck-up"' to the Latino community.

Mr Bush, a Dallas reporter covering the conference says, has the greater facility in Spanish, but few past presidents have ever managed much more than an " adios, amigos " over a campaign burrito. One former vice-president, Dan Quayle, is still credited with having thought that the people of Latin America spoke Latin.

There is more glad-handing to be done before Mr Gore is driven past the trolley-cars and palm trees to the airport for his plane back to Washington.

As he leaves the rally with La Raza, Santana's Supernatural speeds him on his way. Right now, Mr Gore would probably settle for just plain natural.

But at least he was present at a vast gathering of Latinos who cheered loudly when the Californian lieutenant governor, Cruz Bustamente, welcomed him as "the next president of the United States".